Standing Rock Council Votes to Close Camps; Great Turnout at Black Snake Resistance March

The Standing Rock Nation’s Tribal Council held an emergency meeting Friday and voted unanimously to close all of the water protector camps within 30 days, including the main Oceti Sakowin camp, according to an article in Indian County Today.

It appears that renewed violence triggered the decision:

The evacuation decision was made following a week of renewed clashes between police and pipeline protesters who call themselves water protectors. Since Monday, January 16, 35 people have been arrested from demonstrations, or actions, carried out at various sites blocking access to the pipeline drill pad, bringing the total number of arrests to 624 since August 10.

Click on the link above for full details. Keep reading for photos from the Black Snake Resistance March

Latest Absurdity: War Zone Missile Launchers Used to Scare Water Protectors

The North Dakota National Guard has taken the bizarre and extraordinary step of installing surface-to-air missile launchers near the Oceti Sakowin camp opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), according to reports in both The Daily Beast and Fox News.

It is the latest move in the overly militarized response to the water protectors. Those opposing the pipeline already have suffered attacks with high pressure water hoses in freezing temperatures, concussion grenades, and rubber bullets. The addition of missile launchers is nothing other than an effort at “Shock and Awe” against U.S. citizens, the vast majority of whom have opposed the pipeline in a peaceful and prayerful manner.

The National Guard downplayed the presence of these intimidating weapons, saying they were not loaded and the Guard “does not have the authority to arm them,” according to The Daily Beast.

No matter how the National Guard spins it, this is about intimidation.

AFSC Report on Standing Rock; More DAPL Updates; and One Reservation’s Efforts to Stop the Mexican Border Wall

In this post, we:

• Summarize the American Friends Service Committee’s report: “We Are Our Own Medicine: An AFS Special Report From the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Land and Unceded Territory.”
• Let you know about the “Black Snake Resistance March” on Jan. 20, and where to buy t-shirts and posters that are a fundraiser to support youth at Standing Rock.
• Link to a Bismarck Tribune updating DAPL’s current court case.
• Share news that an Arizona tribe says it will not allow the proposed U.S.-Mexican border wall on its lands.

For details, keep reading!